Her dream turns into a nightmare: she is stuck in London due to a detached retina

A 60-year-old woman who dreamed of exploring Europe suffered a detached retina just three days after arriving in the UK, forcing her to spend nearly $20,000 on her month-long recovery.

“I felt like cowering into a corner […]. It’s a real nightmare Newspaper Micheline Vidal was contacted in London where she remains.

On August 31, the 69-year-old woman from Quebec set foot in the United Kingdom for the first time, accompanied by a group of other Hydro-Québec retirees. But everything came to a head just three days after her arrival, when she woke up with a halo in her eye.

“I’ve had retinal detachment before, so I knew what was happening to me,” says M.^I Vidal reports on the uproar that followed an emergency operation in a country he was completely unfamiliar with.

I finally went under the knife the next afternoon. It was too late to save the macula, but at least she wouldn’t go completely blind in her right eye.

17000 $ in housing

Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of M’s ordeal.^I Vidal, who learned that she would not be able to return to Quebec until a month later, because of the gas used to restore her retina.

Micheline Vidal had to spend five straight days lying on her left side, nearly 24 hours a day, to allow her retina to reattach properly after surgery.

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Photo courtesy of Marieve Bedard

“My insurance reimbursed me for the cost of the operation, but since I was not hospitalized for more than 24 hours, they only gave me $1,500 to cover the rest of the amount. This barely covers four nights in a hotel here…” laments the sixty-year-old woman. , who is trying to get an extra $2,000 using her credit card insurance.

She tried to find affordable housing through VRBO and Airbnb, but twice came across unsanitary apartments that didn’t match the photos posted on the platforms.

Some of the accommodations that Ms. Vidal and her family found were extremely unsanitary.

Photo courtesy of Marieve Bedard

His stay will cost him about $17,000 between now and October 6, when he leaves. This doesn’t include the money she’ll have to pay for food and transportation, plus the $10,000 she spent on her first trip that she’ll try to recoup.

Light at the end of the tunnel

This trip was initially supposed to represent a kind of “light at the end of the tunnel” for M^I Vidal. After battling breast cancer, breaking up with her partner and losing two sisters, she finally made plans to enjoy life.

In fact, she plans to explore Europe country by country, with her travel companion Gaetan Viot, over the next few years.

Madame Vidal’s nieces, Marie-France Jobin and Valérie Trudel, traveled to London to help her for a few days.

Photo courtesy of Marieve Bedard

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“I experienced horror […]. It put an end to my desire to travel abroad. “I don’t want to put my family through this again,” laments the woman who was able to rely on her nieces and children to help her through this journey that turned into a nightmare.

Those close to Micheline fired Vidal GoFundMe campaign to help pay for costs For his forced stay in the United Kingdom.